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Spiritual Growth through Mission Participation
Mission and service activities are increasingly the entry points through which people, particularly younger people, first connect with our churches. We hope that mission participation…
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Mission and service activities are increasingly the entry points through which people, particularly younger people, first connect with our churches. We hope that mission participation…
Lent, the forty-day period before Easter, is set aside as a season of soul-searching and repentance. The forty days of Lent reflect Jesus’s withdrawal into…
Strong and growing congregations typically have a very high percentage of people who are actively involved in learning, serving, and leading. These 50 tips will…
How does someone in your church go from being new to being an authentic follower of Jesus Christ? Many churches provide really fuzzy answers to…
After air quality, music is the single greatest environmental factor for your community, because it determines how people feel in your church. It has the power…
How can you best welcome the next newcomer who crosses the threshold of your congregation? Consider Jesus’ call to the disciples. When he said, “Follow…
Jessicah Duckworth’s book Wide Welcome speaks to the question of how congregations can best welcome newcomers, engage them in Christian practices, and nurture their faith.…
A much-talked-about book currently is The Power of Habit. The author, Charles Duhigg, attempts to answer the questions, “Why do habits exist, and how can…
The fact that youth participate in church less as they get older and often are not present in church as young adults can lead church…
People arrived at church for the first Sunday of a four-week stewardship emphasis. They were surprised to see a door with a door frame in…
Congregations have been doing a lot with teenagers, but it isn’t always leading to consequential faith, maintains Kenda Creasy Dean in Almost Christian: What the…
Kenda Creasy Dean reports in her book Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Oxford University Press, 2010) that…
Every church believes itself to be a welcoming and friendly fellowship, but this isn’t always true. If our churches are to become spiritual communities where…
The genius of Bishop Robert Schnase’s Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Abingdon 2007) was to identify foundational habits that, when properly implemented, enable the church…
United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase, author of the best-selling Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations published by Abingdon Press in 2007, has a new book on…
Occasionally I like to visit a local Mexican restaurant. As I scan the menu, I search for items I’ve never tasted. However, I often feel…
As I sat tapping on my computer keyboard in a Midwestern Starbucks, an unexpected event unfolded nearby. A manager sporting a green apron sat down…
I have never been an enthusiastic fan of the word “sacrifice” because so few church members in this culture understand or appreciate the term or…
How can your church offer a strong and inviting program of Bible study and Christian education for adult learners? It is important to offer a…
I am convinced that we in the church do not understand the concept of harvesting. I can’t begin to count the times I have heard…
In a previous issue of Leading Ideas, Robert K. Martin connects pastoral leadership with gardening. One look at a neighbor’s garden reminds him that the…
Leading Ideas had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Bishop Robert Schnase, author of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Abingdon Press, 2007). Here are some highlights…
This is the question raised by Martha Grace Reese and the Mainline Evangelism Project she directed. The results of her research, funded by the Lilly…
This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.